Northeastern hotpot meat tastes sour and sweet.
In order to adapt to the tastes of foreign guests, Guobaorou changes the salty and fresh flavor of "charred pork strips" into a sweet and sour dish. Usually, the pork tenderloin is sliced ??and marinated, wrapped in fried batter, fried in a pan until golden brown, scooped up, and then stir-fried to thicken it.
Guobao Pork is made from pork tenderloin and starch, and is fried twice, once until it’s cooked, and then twice until it’s brown. When it comes out of the pot, it’s juicy and garnished with coriander. The appearance is red and white, the meat is charred on the outside and tender on the inside, slightly sour and slightly sweet.
To make delicious Guobao Pork, you need to pay attention to: Be sure to use 9 degree rice vinegar, fry the tenderloin again, and stir-fry quickly after adding the sweet and sour sauce. The sweet and sour sauce is very important. If you add too little, there will be no sour taste, and if you add too much, the fried tenderloin will become crispy. Authentic Guobao pork should be crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, sweet and sour, and smell of vinegar as soon as it is served.
Food Culture
In the Qing Dynasty, bannerman Zheng Xingwen came to Beijing with his father at the age of 6. He gradually became interested in cooking and later became a disciple of Chen Caibao, the successor of Huaiyang cuisine. In 1907, Zheng Xingwen went to Harbin Binjiang Dao Yamen and worked as an official chef, cooking meals for Daotai Du Xueying.
Daotai Mansion often entertains foreign guests, especially Russian guests. Because foreigners like to eat sweet and sour flavors. Du Xueying ordered the chef in the house to change the taste of the dishes. Zheng Xingwen changed the original salty "charred pork strips" into sweet and sour dishes. This change made Harbin the origin of Guobao Pork.
Russian guests like this dish very much and order it every time they eat. Because it is stir-fried quickly over high heat, the iron pot is heated, and the juice is poured into the pot and soaked into the meat, so it is called "pot fried meat". Russians pronounce the word "pop" as "bao", and over time, "guobaorou" evolved into "guobaorou".